ROAD TRIP - Part I

We took the party south to Austin this weekend to visit my dear college friend Mikalah and her man Jarrod. It was our first trip to see them since they moved, and what a great visit we had!

Saturday morning we headed out to Mt. Bonnell, which boasts some of the most stunning vistas of the Hill Country. We climbed around there for a bit and checked out the views.
The Gaithers
You can see the 360 bridge in the background.

The next item on the agenda was something I was absolutely terrified of, but strangely looking forward to...

BIKE RIDING!!!

I haven't ridden a bicycle since the summer before 8th grade. Recovering from when the Grand Trophy (my bike) bucked me required two knee surgeries and MONTHS of physical therapy for me to be able to walk correctly again. You can see that me and bike riding have some issues to work out.

Here I am working on my confidence...
Stopping for a breather at Town Lake.
I had 15 miles to work out my bicycle issues!
Stopping for another breather--SNOWCONES!

So I conquered two fears this weekend...
1. Fear of riding a bike.
2. Fear of looking geeky in a bicycle helmet. (What can I say--I'm a girl.)

More tomorrow on our super relaxing weekend!

Bits and Bytes

So I know what you've been thinking. It's been far too long since I wrote a post rambling on and on about what's going on in my day-in, day-out, everyday life. If that's what you come here for, then today is your lucky day!

Work. Lately, work has been incredibly busy, which is a good thing! But, it's given me some sleepless nights (as in, sleepless because I am up ALL night working.) Fortunately, this summer I am going to try out a flex time program, which means every other Friday off I will be coming to a pool near YOU! I can't wait! I don't know if it will be longterm or not, but it will be perfect for the summer months.

Choir. This past Wednesday night I joined the adult choir at my church. For some reason, I've always felt too young for adult choir, but memo to Emily: you are an adult. So. Off to choir I go on Wednesday nights, and thankfully, with a friend! (It is an unconfirmed rumor that I was inspired by the recent premiere of Glee. Love it!)

The Shred. Oh, The Shred. For those of you who might be living under a rock, the meanest trainer from the Biggest Loser Jillian Michaels has a work out video called The 30 Day Shred. Now, it makes claims like "LOSE 20 LBS IN 30 DAYS" to which I cannot testify. However, I can say that I can tell a difference in my clothes, a little on the scale, and definitely in muscle tone. I found out that God actually DID make me with a bicep (although tiny.) I can also run further without feeling like I'm going to die. Thanks, Jillian!

Snowcones. Brad and I have been looking for a good snowcone stand for years. My hometown has awesome snowcones, and this is one thing I have found extremely lacking in DFW. I know you guys will celebrate with us as I would like to formally announce that our search has ended on West Camp Bowie in Fort Worth. Call if you want the address. I will probably be there on my off Fridays before going to the pool.

Have a great weekend!

RAIN DELAY

To celebrate Brad's TWENTY-NINTH birthday, I got tickets to the Yankees game last Tuesday night.

For about two and a half hours, I was convinced that we were experiencing the world's most expensive hot dog and snowcones, complete with $12 parking fee. First pitches that don't get thrown until 9:30 PM--well that just doesn't really go with the commute I have going on everyday. But the Rangers won anyway, and it was an adventure!

We stayed as long as possible, and then found out the next day that our tickets will be honored at another weekday game. Bonus!

That's rain in the background, and maybe some hail.

Check It

Go {HERE} to listen to This Old House, a local band out of Denton. It is good stuff.

Go {HERE} for an interview with the band.

And finally, mark your calendar for JUNE 5 for their show at The Moon Bar in Cowtown.

Hokey Pokey Super Star

My man has a birthday today!

We celebrated with friends last night.
Thank you guys for celebrating with us!

He wanted to go to Babe's Chicken.  Little did he know they make the birthday boy (or girl) do the hokey pokey.  I mean really, that's what it's all about. 

And wear a chicken hat.

Let's see that up close. Wow, not just a hat--a beak too.

Now that's almost a bonfire.

Happy Birthday Brad!!!
This year is going to be the best!

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

Someone's got a birthday tomorrow.
We're celebrating with friends tonight--that means cake!


Recipe found {HERE}.

Rangers Sweep Angels

Sunday afternoon we went to the Ballpark to watch the Rangers beat Angels with our Sunday school class. Let me just say that the Ranger games are definitely more fun these days--attendance is up, and the crowd is into it.


The top left is my favorite ad at the Ballpark.
The H lights up after a HIT at night!


We ate snowcones, got some sun, and saw a win. With friends.
Perfect Sunday afternoon.

WAFFLE NIGHT (and games too.)

Friday night was WAFFLE NIGHT at the Gentry casa.





Did someone say LOST? If so, he wants in the conversation.

A little Apples to Apples action...

The Pastor and Pastor's Wife of FBC, Ames.

Worn out from the Shred...


I've been doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred for the past 10 days, and the girls--having heard me talk way too much about it--wanted to try it out. So we sent the guys to the backyard and locked them out while the 5 of us (plus Cooper) worked out to the Shred. Ladies, bring your running shoes next time you come for dinner--we will all run laps around the neighborhood! :)

We had a really fun night and are blessed to be surrounded by such good and fun friends!

The Bethpage Story (in Pictures)

As promised, here is the story about how my trip to play golf on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park in New York. In order to keep it short, I've decided to just let the pictures tell the story, so many of the details have been left out.

It's virtually impossible for a nonresident to get a tee time, so our only hope was to secure one of the 6 tee times reserved for walk-ons each day. The Black Course is in such high demand that you must sleep in your car to guarantee your spot in line. Here is Joe at about 4 am as we wait for the Park Ranger to come get all the players that are trying to walk-on.

Here is the line of cars hoping to get a walk-on slot. Keep in mind that only the first 6 foursomes are guaranteed to play. It looks like there are going to be a lot of disappointed golfers this morning.

The Park Ranger finally arrives around 4:45 am and passes out tickets to everyone in line signifying what number you are. We were third in line (yes, ahead of us were some Penn State students that were even crazier than we were and showed up 20 hours before their tee time!) We are about to get our tee time, and within hours should be playing Bethpage Black, the host course of this year's U.S. Open Championship.

Then we were told the bad news! We flew halfway across the country and slept in our cars, only to be told that there was too much water on the course because of the rain that week. But we weren't going down that easily. Certainly it would be dried up by the next day, so now we decided to sleep in the car for the second straight night.

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This is when the story becomes almost tragic, because it rained that second night and they closed the Black Course again! We were about to give up and go to the airport when two phone calls changed everything. First, a call from Joe to the golf course superintendent gave us an opportunity to walk the Black course, as well as a virtual guarantee that we would play if we could stay one more day. Second, a call from "Bobby" in the pro shop caught the attention of the local newspaper.

So here (left) are Joe and Martin walking the course. The course actually was really wet that second day, so we understood their decision to keep it closed. The fourth hole (right) was one of the greatest golf holes we had ever seen.

Then Friday, the sun came out and we were able to play. Finally! They even mowed it for us that morning. Notice the warning sign on the first tee.

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Now here we are playing the course. It was definitely worth the wait! But sleeping in the car three nights (and lack of any real golf ability) produced a pretty high score for me.

	This first picture is on the first tee. There was a substantial crowd gathered behind us to watch. The third picture was the 8th hole, where I got my only par of the day. That fourth picture does not truly show how deep the bunkers were. The last picture was our final hole. How awesome does that look???

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One of the coolest experiences of my life!

A Story to Tell

My man was out of town last week. I think the Long Island Newsday paper does a good job telling the story. (Yes, Long Island, NY).

Trio camp in van for chance to play Bethpage Black
BY TIMOTHY ROBERTSON | Special to Newsday
11:33 PM EDT, May 7, 2009

They've spent three nights in a car with little rest, spent $1,200 on flights, hotel and food, and upset their wives - all for a round of golf at one of the country's more difficult courses.

Hoping to play Bethpage Black before the pros arrive next month for the U.S Open, Martin Pepper, Joe Deane and Brad Gentry flew from Texas to Long Island on Tuesday.

For three days they've waited to hear that the Black course was dry enough to play.

"You got to be a golfer to understand it," said Deane, 27, a Fort Worth resident.

Although they paid for a hotel room, the scruffy trio waited in their car overnight Wednesday for an opportunity to play Thursday. They chose to wait again in their rented minivan last night because if they move it, they lose their place among the seven other cars waiting for the weather to clear.

"We're weeping in tears when we hear the rain come down," Pepper, 27, said.

The group planned this trip for four months.

Last year, the trio considered flying west to play the Torrey Pines course ahead of the 2008 U.S. Open but couldn't get a tee time three months before.

"This could be the best vacation if we get to play, or the most disappointing if we don't," Pepper said.

They shower at the hotel but sleep in the car. "That shower. It changes your life," said Pepper, a Houston resident and the lone bachelor.

Gentry, 28, said he doesn't want to leave without a round on the 29th-best course in the U.S., according to Golf Digest.

The men said they heard that Bethpage management wants to see them play a round.

"If not, we have a crazy story and people will think we're idiots," Deane said.

Article found here. Stay tuned for more details straight from the source.

(And way to go me, for staying by myself all week.)

Country Road, Take Me Home

This weekend we set out to visit both sides of the family for Mother's Day weekend. It is amazing to me how varied the landscape is around the great state of Texas. It's always a treat to travel the back roads in deep East Tex.


I don't have any pics of our visit with Brad's family. We spent most of the day at the hospital with his mom. She and his grandparents have all been in ill health, but we are happy to report the are for the most part on the mend at this time. We were able to see all four of his grandparents while we were there.

Saturday night we headed towards Corsicana to be home for Mother's Day. We decided to go to church with my grandparents Sunday morning at the rural church where my grandfather pastors. And can I just tell you how tickled I was to get to sing out of these? It was a delight!


From there, we headed down to Sam's in Fairfield to give the moms a break from cooking Sunday lunch. We did some standing around waiting on a table for a party of 18. (Brother & Cousins)

Sisters.

Some were back at the buffet when I took this one.

We ♥ Sam's!

Chocolate Pie

GO HERE
(Sam's Restaurant, Fairfield, TX)

EAT THIS
(Sorry it was too good not to eat.)